Catching up with Then and Now

In the July 18 column about the Washington Cracker Co. building on E. Pacific Ave., it was mentioned that the cookie and cracker company used the swastika as a its symbol. It was on many packages and was seen as a wholesome, if exotic, symbol before its use by the German Nazi party. In the photos above, you can see a ghost image of the swastika on a Portland bakery building left over from the era of the Oregon/Washington Cracker Companies. Research tells us that the symbol is found in the ancient imageries of Greece, Scandinavia, and Native American tribes.

The second photo shows a young woman sharing cookies with city officials as they welcome the bakery giant to Spokane. Eventually, Nabisco bought all of the bakeries in the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company. See the column here.

In the column about Hillyard High School, now the Agnes Kehoe Apartments, a cheeky photo shows the Hillyard Panther football players roughing up an "Indian," not because they're racist, but because the North Central High School Indians were their arch enemies during the football season.

In the column about the Martin Parry truck shop at 19 E. Pacific Ave., the story was about the shop's owner, Universal Auto Co. of Spokane. Here is a truck ad from the period when Martin Parry was creating commercial trucks from the Model T. Henry Ford's basic auto was used from passenger cars, small buses, flat beds, dump trucks and many other uses. Martin Parry was one of the largest truck body producers of its time.

Posted July 27, 2016, 1:07 p.m.

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